Free Video Lessons for Narrative Writing
How does Cambridge assess your narrative writing?
Cambridge First Language English IGCSE will assess your work by considering two main areas:
- Content and structure: Do you have a well-defined plot structure, with an introduction, inciting incident, rising tension, climax and resolution? Can you effectively build tension and intrigue? Do you effectively use dialogue, description and characterisation? Can you structure your story in an interesting and effective manner?
- Style and accuracy: How accurate is your spelling, punctuation and grammar? Do you use sophisticated vocabulary precisely? Can you use varied punctuation and sentencing for effect?
Take a look at the exemplar below, and try to notice where this model response meets the above criteria.
A* exemplar narrative for IGCSE First Language English
The Reunion
A cup of coffee grew colder in a café on the frigid outskirts of Paris, but Henri LeBarre seemed to pay no mind to the dwindling threads of steam. No, Henri’s eyes were fixed far in the distance, any thoughts of his five Euro coffee going to waste pushed far from the front of his mind. He was wearing one of his best shirts – as he always did whenever he came to Café Rêveur – and his fine silvery hair had been carefully combed to the side.
She would pass by soon, Henri knew. It was almost 8:00 am. Steeling himself, he felt an invisible hand clutching at his heart, spreading icy fear through his veins. He’d promised himself that today, today, he would actually stand up from his seat, brush himself down and leave the café. What would he say to her? He didn’t know. But he was certain that if he didn’t step outside the threshold of Café Rêveur that he would never conjure any sentence that quite captured all the lost years.
At 8:03 am, she emerged from around the corner of Rue du Coeur, her red hair whipped around her face by a fierce wind. She pulled her lumpy knitted scarf closer around her and set her eyes straight ahead as she marched on. Chantal.
Henri hadn’t noticed that he had sprung to his feet (indeed, he doubted he had ‘sprang’ anywhere in a good fifteen years) but he had promised himself that this would be the day and with a shaky breath, he steeled himself as he left the warmth of the café and stepped out into the street, ten paces behind Chantal.
So far, so good. After all, this was the first time he had even breached the confines of the Café to be in the same space as Chantal in… twenty years? Had it been that long? But now what? Should he shout after her? Should he follow behind her?
Henri began to feel foolish. He imagined that passers-by would see him as a doddering old man who had stumbled outside only to have forgotten his reading glasses or to pay the owner for his OAP half-price meal.
About to turn back inside, to chalk this moment up to another failure, Henri half-turned to return inside the café when a sharp gust of wind echoed down the streets with a wail, grabbing Chantal’s scarf from around her neck and whisking it down the Rue du Coeur: straight into Henri’s open hands.
Henri trembled. Chantal turned.
Henri’s faded blue eyes deeply lined with wrinkles met with Chantal’s gaze: at first surprised at the wind’s swift theft of her knitwear, then relieved at a kindly old man clutching her scarf… and finally, wide, disbelieving, shocked… all the things Henri feared he might see when their gazes locked.
No, not all the things he’d feared to see; there was no anger, no pain in Chantal’s eyes.
“Papa…?” he saw the words on her mouth, but her voice was too quiet to hear them.
Henri looked down at the scarf, back up into Chantal’s blue eyes, eyes he had once gazed into as he held her as a baby, soothing her to sleep. He could only nod in response. His throat suddenly felt constricted. His eyes burned. And a deep sense of shame flooded his body, sickening and tight, paralysing him where he stood.
Time stood still. The wind howled. Cars roared past. Henri and Chantal stood ten steps apart, staring at each other open-mouthed.
Chantal broke the stalemate. She half-walked, half-ran to her father. “I’ve been looking for you. Mama said you’d got better… You’ve turned your life around and I’ve been trying to find you. I’ve… Oh, Pa.”
Henri offered her the scarf, suddenly unable to meet her eyes for red-faced embarrassment at the tears that he couldn’t stop pouring down his face nor the words, the explanations, the apologies that he couldn’t speak. The years he’d wasted.
“Pa,” said Chantal softly, taking Henri by the arm. “Let’s go somewhere we can talk properly. How about this place, Café Rêveur? The Café of Dreams feels like a good place to start.”
Henri nodded. A good place to start, he thought. I couldn’t ask for much more than that.
What makes this a great narrative?
Introduction
A great story introduction should hook your reader, establish your setting and introduce your characters.
A cup of coffee grew colder in a café on the frigid outskirts of Paris, but Henri LeBarre seemed to pay no mind to the dwindling threads of steam. No, Henri’s eyes were fixed far in the distance, any thoughts of his five Euro coffee going to waste pushed far from the front of his mind. He was wearing one of his best shirts – as he always did whenever he came to Café Rêveur – and his fine silvery hair had been carefully combed to the side.
In the opening paragraph, we learn that this story is set in a café in Paris, likely in the winter time since the weather is described as “frigid”.
Not only this, but we also learn about our main character, Henri, an older man with “fine silvery hair”, carefully combed and he sporting his best shirt. These descriptions of his appearance not only help the reader to picture Henri but can tell us something about his personality: he takes pride in his appearance, perhaps being fussy about it, and is either a daydreamer or worried about something as his “eyes were fixed far in the distance”.
This brings us to our hook: why should the reader care? This story hooks the reader by making them question what Henri is looking for in the distance, why he is wearing his best shirt today, and why he is wasting his coffee.
Inciting incident
An inciting incident is the catalyst that begins the main actions of the story. Or, more simply, it is the thing that happens at the beginning of a story that gets the plot moving.
She would pass by soon, Henri knew. It was almost 8:00 am. Steeling himself, he felt an invisible hand clutching at his heart, spreading icy fear through his veins. He’d promised himself that today, today, he would actually stand up from his seat, brush himself down and leave the café. What would he say to her? He didn’t know. But he was certain that if he didn’t step outside the threshold of Café Rêveur that he would never conjure any sentence that quite captured all the lost years.
The second paragraph in this story serves as an effective inciting incident because it presents a clear turning point for the main character, Henri. It introduces the central conflict and his internal struggle as he contemplates his past and the opportunity for reconciliation with his daughter, Chantal. This moment creates tension and sets the story in motion by making Henri leave the café and follow Chantal, marking the beginning of his journey toward reconnection and redemption.
Notice also how this paragraph heightens the stakes of the story further. The reader is left questioning:
- Who is “she” and why is Henri waiting for her? Is it an ex-wife, a workmate, or a family member?
- Why have the pair become estranged?
- Why does the thought of seeing her make “icy fear” spread through Henri’s body? Will “she” react badly to seeing Henri here?
- How many times has Henri come to this café, seen her and not approached her?
- Will Henri truly keep his promise to himself and approach her today?
Rising tension
Rising tension is the gradual increase in suspense, conflict, or emotional intensity in a story, building anticipation and engagement. Usually, rising tension will cause the reader to have many questions that will only be answered or resolved at the story’s climax. Finally, rising tension will usually take up the longest section of your story as you build towards your climax.
In this story, the rising tension is everything from when Henri first sees Chantal, him following her out onto the street, almost backing away and, finally, to the wind blowing Chantal’s scarf into Henri’s hands, forcing Henri and Chantal to see each other. During this whole section, the reader is left wondering:
- Who is Chantal and what is her relationship to Henri?
- Will Henri engage with Chantal or back out like he did in the past?
- Why have Henri and Chantal become estranged?
- How will Chantal react to seeing Henri? We learn that it has been twenty years since they have last saw each other, so whatever has kept them apart must be a significant problem to overcome.
About to turn back inside, to chalk this moment up to another failure, Henri half-turned to return inside the café when a sharp gust of wind echoed down the streets with a wail, grabbing Chantal’s scarf from around her neck and whisking it down the Rue du Coeur: straight into Henri’s open hands.
In the quote above, we see the tension rise ever higher towards a climax as the story reaches a point of no return; once Henri has Chantal’s scarf, he has no choice but to interact with her.
Now, heading towards the climax, it seems the reader’s previous list of questions must be answered.
Climax
The climax in a story is the highest point of tension or conflict, where the central problem or conflict reaches its most intense and decisive moment. This is the moment when most or all of the questions or mysteries raised in your story should be resolved to fully satisfy your reader.
Henri looked down at the scarf, back up into Chantal’s blue eyes, eyes he had once gazed into as he held her as a baby, soothing her to sleep. He could only nod in response. His throat suddenly felt constricted. His eyes burned. And a deep sense of shame flooded his body, sickening and tight, paralysing him where he stood.
Time stood still. The wind howled. Cars roared past. Henri and Chantal stood ten steps apart, staring at each other open-mouthed.
Chantal broke the stalemate. She half-walked, half-ran to her father. “I’ve been looking for you. Mama said you’d got better… You’ve turned your life around and I’ve been trying to find you. I’ve… Oh, Pa.”
This climax begins to resolve most of the questions the reader had during the rising tension of the story:
Who is Chantal and what is her relationship to Henri?
In the climax, we learn about the relationship between Henri and Chantal, as Henri remembers holding Chantal “as a baby, soothing her to sleep” and Chantal calls him “Pa”: Chantal is Henri’s daughter.
Will Henri engage with Chantal or back out like he did in the past?
Yes, but not by choice but because of the wind. He also finds it difficult to speak to her and Chantal does all the speaking.
Why have Henri and Chantal become estranged?
The larger question of why Henri has not seen Chantal in twenty years is left open. The reader only learns that Chantal’s mother “said [Henry had] got better… [Henri] turned [his] life around.” What exactly made Henri unwell isn’t explicitly stated, but the reader could guess that perhaps Henri suffered from addiction or something equally disruptive to family life.
This was a question that I, as the writer, struggled with whether or not to answer fully. In the end, I felt it was more effective to the story to leave this question only hinted at as I couldn’t find a way to explain what had happened without spoiling the story in some way… do you think I made the right choice?
How will Chantal react to seeing Henri?
Although Henri fears seeing “anger” and “pain” in Chantal’s eyes, this doesn’t transpire. She reacts well to seeing her father again, saying she’d been trying to find him after hearing he had recovered. In fact, it is Henri who has the more emotional reaction, crying and being too upset to respond to Chantal.
Resolution
A resolution in a story is where the main conflicts or problems are resolved, and the story reaches its conclusion or outcome. In a short story, it might be more effective to leave your ending on a cliff-hanger, but you should still make sure that most of the questions are resolved or your reader won’t feel satisfied. A resolution for a short story should be brief; the climax is the most exciting part of the story and anything after that may drag on and become boring.
“Pa,” said Chantal softly, taking Henri by the arm. “Let’s go somewhere we can talk properly. How about this place, Café Rêveur? The Café of Dreams feels like a good place to start.”
Henri nodded. A good place to start, he thought. I couldn’t ask for much more than that.
Above is the resolution to my story. This resolution is effective because it offers a sense of closure and hope. It signifies a willingness from both Henri and Chantal to address their estrangement and start anew, hinting towards the potential for reconciliation. The choice of returning to “Café Rêveur” holds symbolic significance, suggesting that they are willing to rebuild their relationship in a place that holds sentimental value, making it a heartfelt and meaningful resolution.
Not only this, but non-French speakers learn the meaning of “Café Rêveur” for the first time: the Café of Dreams. This might suggest Henri’s dream of being reunited with her daughter is coming true.
Finally, notice that the story both begins and ends with Café Rêveur, creating a circular narrative structure.
More exemplars for First Language English IGCSE
- Cinematic structure – a description of New York City
- Five-paragraph structure – a description of cherry blossom season in Japan
- Five-paragraph structure – a description of a British town after being bombed in WW2
Watch my free description video lesson, download the resources and take the quiz
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- 50 minute video lesson with subtitles
- A* exemplar for descriptive writing, looking at cherry blossom season in Japan
- Inspiration videos and pictures for your own writing
- Worksheet with a planning sheet
- PowerPoint
- Revision quizzes for descriptions and vocabulary
